Safety appliance for ladders



Feb. 28, 1928. 1,660,909

I I E. H. BAYER SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR LADDERS Filed Jan. 4. 1926 [2063! 1% Saga!" Q A BY 0 MENTOR mi-5 am m Patented Feb. 28, 1928. 1

UNITED "STATES ERNEST H. BAYER, OF MALVERN, ARKANSAS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR LADDERS.

Application filed January 4, 1926. Serial No. 79,201.

This invention relates to improvements in safety appliances for use upon ladders and other scaffolding devices and which contemplates a provision of an inverted yoke havmg its respective ends extendlng' inwardly and pivoted to the opposing side rails of the ladder and being capable of being retained in a position whereby a person using the ladder may stand upon a rung or round and rest against the yoke in order to prevent his falling or overcoming his equilibriumso that both hands may be free to work.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of locking members arranged upon the platform of a ladder for holding the yoke in a vertically disposed position whereby a person so using the ladder may stand upon such platform and rest his legs against the yoke with a measure of safety without the usual trembling and anticipated fall from such platform.

lVith the above and other objects in view,

the invention further includes the following novel features and details of construction, to be hereinafter more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings The figure is a fragmentary perspective of the ladder illustrating the application of my invention thereon.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like characters of reference denote cor responding parts, the reference character 10 indicates the side members of a step ladder, 11 the steps or rungs therefor, and the upper ends of the side members 10 have their re spective ends provided with plates 12 carried beneath the platform 13. The upper free ends of the supporting members 14 are pivotally mounted as indicated at 15 between the plates 12 and are provided with diagonally disposed bracing strips 16 se' cured thereto to hold the same in a spaced parallel relation, all of the above being of the usual and well known construction forming no part of the present application for Letters Patent but being merely mentioned for purposes of illustration in bringing forth the novel advantages of the above entitled invention.

The invention resides in the provision of a substantially inverted U-shaped bar 17 providing forwardly inclined portions 18 and terminating in inwardly extending olfset end portions 19 positioned and pivotally mounted within the upper portions of the side members 10, as clearly illustrated.

It will thus be noted from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings that the substantially inverted U-shaped bar It is mounted for swinging movement and capable of being positioned in both vertical yoke 17 has cotter pins or like fastening" elements 22 extending through the inwardly extending offset end portions 19 upon the oppositesides of the side members 10 to prevent accidental displacement thereof while the hingedly mounted plates 21 hold the yoke in a vertically disposed position whereby a person .using the ladder may stand upon the platform 13 and rest and steady his legs against the yoke 17 or straddle the same whereby both hands will be free to work.

The invention is susceptible of various changes in its form, proportions and minor details of construction, and the right is herein reserved to make such changes as proper? ly fall within the scope of the appended claim. 7

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1- In combination with a ladder having a platform atthe top thereof, a substantially U-shaped member having its ends hingedly secured to the ladder and capable of being swung into position to extend upwardly at the ends and substantially central of the side edges of said platform, and means carried by the platform and detachably engaging the U-shaped member upon its opposite sides to hold said member in said position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ERNEST H. BAYER. 

